Mothers with young children are working now more than ever, reaching record-high levels, according to a recent study.
The study from the Hamilton Project showed that 70.4% of mothers with children under the age of 5 were working, compared to 68.9% of women who worked prior to the pandemic.
Since February 2023, women between the ages of 25 and 54 have made up the prime age of women in the workforce currently – exceeding previous numbers, according to the study.
When looking at women who have “at least a bachelor’s degree,” the number exceeds the pre-pandemic number of 77.9% in November 2019, and was reported to be almost 81% higher in April 2023, according to the study.
“They and women without children are so far the only groups who across all education levels have generally returned to or exceeded pre-pandemic rates of participation,” Lauren Bauer and Sarah Yu Wang, authors of the study, wrote.
The study also found that the difference in the martial status of mothers with younger children was merging into the labor force participation numbers. Between 2016 to 2019, married women with small children accounted for 63.2% of the workforce, while unmarried women with small children accounted for 72.6% accounted for the workforce, according to the study.
“In the first six months of 2023, married women with young children had a labor force participation of 69.0 percent, and it was 72.1 percent for those unmarried,” the authors wrote. “This convergence appears to be happening only among mothers with young children.”
The study also investigated telework and the impact it has had on the workforce, citing the flexibilities from working at home, labor laws that protect women who get pregnant and need family or medical leave, as well as fertility patterns making newer moms “more likely to be working moms,” and the costs of childcare.
Data from Catalyst in June 2021 showed women who needed childcare options were 32% less likely to leave their jobs if it had remote options.
